May 2007

i’ve been intrigued lately by The Fermi Project, “… a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, entertainers, artists, futurists, scientists, historians, environmentalists and church leaders experimenting with ways to positively contribute to culture.” (from website)

In April, they organized a gathering called Q, where 31 presenters had 18 minutes each (now that’s good for us A.D.D. guys) to share their big ideas about culture, the future, the church and the gospel.

Among the notable presenters: Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Donald Miller, Rick Warren. Here’s the full list of Q presenters.

For $59.00/yr you can subscribe to a monthly online “newsletter” called Fermi Words. Each issue includes two video talks from Q and a short essay. The first issue is called “The Good”. “Christians in our culture are sometimes known by what they are against instead of what they are for. What if this could change? What if we were known as connoisseurs of the good, finding it and celebrating it throughout culture. If we could see everything through this lens, the perceptions of Christians throughout society could be reversed. ”

Very thought provoking stuff so far….

Happy Memorial Day

“Beautiful One” Tim Hughes
“Majestic” Lincoln Brewster
“Forever” Chris Tomlin
“How Great Thou Art” Charlie Hall

recently, in a conversation with a volunteer musician in our worship band, i finally put into words an unspoken expectation that i have for our players and singers. something that really bugs me is when people come to our thursday night rehearsals under-prepared. some people’s attitude is that thursday doesn’t really count, sunday is when it matters.

this attitude irritates me and i finally know why. as a leader, by the time sunday morning rolls around, i have to move on from the technical music stuff and concentrate my mind on god and on the people i’m supposed to be leading. if i’m too distracted by worries of whether the band knows their stuff, then i feel as though i’m not operating 100% as a leader. i’m not as in tune with the spirit as i lead. i guess this principle is not unique to worship leading. in any job, you rely on others to do their job so that you can do yours.

so why does thursday matter? if we can work out all the technical details on thursday, and work through dynamics, etc. then my mind is more at ease between thursday and sunday. i can come in sunday morning and engage my mind fully on god. i can respond to the spirit. i can pay attention to and “read” the crowd, therefore being better able to lead. if thursday is considered practice time for any individual and they are behind, i’m worried about whether or not i can count on them on sunday.

in fact, some time ago, i officially distinguished the terms “rehearsal” and “practice”. To me, practice is an individual thing. Each person practices on his/her instrument, learning songs and woodshedding parts. Rehearsal is a group thing. Each person needs to come to rehearsal having already practiced. At rehearsal, we’re not learning individual parts as much as we are working out how those individual parts work together. We’re working dynamics, listening and responding to each other musically.

so, what do you think? i welcome any thoughts from fellow worship leaders and worship band members.

LOST is back, baby!!

Season 3 Finale was awesome.

a bit saggy mid-season, but it’s back on!

What can I say? Good things come to those faithful viewers who remain through the slump.

Hurley and the VW bus!

Locke?!

Charlie will be missed.

Drowning must really suck.

If you were drowning, what would be the final message you’d write on your hand?

the future?! what was the mistake?

February 2008 is a long way away.

my wife and daughter and i are in chicago this week enjoying some needed r&r. we got an incredibly low fare through southwest’s “ding!” program ($25 each way), so we jumped on the opportunity to show darby our former stomping grounds and introduce her to some chicago friends.

this past saturday night we decided to attend the weekend service at our former church, Willow Creek Community Church, where both c.c. and i served on staff. one thing you learn about willow is that change is. i know that looks like a sentence fragment, but that’s what i meant. change is. i could also add some adjectives. change is constant, and change is quick. since we left there at the end of 2001, there have been numerous changes, 3 new pastors in senior leadership, several reorganizations, etc.

with almost 6 years worth of changes, i didn’t quite know what to expect walking into the service tonight. i thought i’d post a few thoughts and observations from our experience.

* servanthood - we remembered that they had built parent rooms into the design of the new auditorium, but couldn’t remember where they were. as we entered the auditorium we asked one of the ushers who was handing out programs. instead of just telling us where it was, he immediately took us there. this kind of service has been a part of the willow d.n.a. for years.

* steve myers rocks - i was glad to see my old buddy steve on the drums. he was a fellow music director of mine. through all the changes in the programming department there, steve has held down the fort.

* simpler format - i’m sure this changes from week to week, but at least this weekend the format was very simple - opening song (performed), welcome by lead pastor, gene appel, 2 participational songs, offering/announcements (lots of them), message by mike breaux, performed song, closing prayer

* compassion/justice emphasis - from the announcements, to several promo videos, to the message itself, it’s apparent that the leadership of willow is casting the vision for the church to reach out to the community and the world. quoting mike breaux, willow’s strategy will be “go and be” instead of “come and see”.

after the service, we sought out steve to say hi and also ran into several other former fellow staffers. it was fun to introduce darby to them and to catch up for a little bit. it was also nice to realize that aside from the people, there aren’t many things about willow that i still miss. i’m glad that God moved me on, and as i said in a recent post, i’m really excited about crosspointe and the team i’m a part of.

Series: Love Affair
Message: Sex

Worship Set:
“All Because of Jesus” Steve Fee
“Amazing” Matt Redman
“Majestic” Lincoln Brewster
“Endlessly” Desperation Band
“Satisfy” Desperation Band

everyone knows that you can better connect with God in worship if you close your eyes, right? well…. for the sake of argument, for now we’ll say yes. as a leader (and even just as a musician) i often feel more natural and comfortable with my eyes shut. i mean, if i’m singing to God why would i be staring 300 people in the eyes?

conversely, if you’re goal is to communicate something to people through music, then it would make sense to make eye contact with them. how many conversations have you been in where the other person won’t look you in the eye? disconcerting, isn’t it? at best, that person is not comfortable with the subject matter. at worse, they’re lying through their teeth.

well recently God’s been showing me something as a worship leader. i once heard one of my mentors-from-afar, Tommy Walker, say that as a worship leader you have to worship with one eye closed and one eye open. in other words, you have to strike a balance between focusing your attention on God and giving enough attention to the people you’re supposed to be leading to know that at least some of them are still following.

another tip from Tommy is to learn to let God bless you. i never gave this much thought until recently when i started to learn what tommy must have been talking about. a few weeks ago i was in the middle of the song “you never let go” by Matt Redman. i was definitely caught up personally in the truth of the lyrics, especially, “if my God is with me, whom then shall i fear?”. normally, i would have my eyes shut tight just belting it out, as if it was just me and God in the room. but instead i opened my eyes and made a point to look at some of the faces of the people whom i was leading. and what i found there was surprisingly emotional. i think God allowed me to get a glimpse of how the truth of the song was hitting home to some of the people worshipping that day. there were some people with bright smiles in full celebration. others were choking back tears. still others were openly weeping. in that moment i was keenly aware that there was communion happening between God and His kids. the moment was so much bigger than i could take any credit for as a leader.

“learn to let god bless you.” i think i’m starting to figure out what that means. i’ve definitely been “blessed” by God in worship with my eyes shut. but i think i’ve often overlooked the possibility that God might want to bless me by looking into the eyes of my fellow worshippers. after all, no one else in the room gets to see the corporate worship experience from that perspective.

so, what are your thoughts on eyes closed verses eyes open while leading? i’d like to hear from other leaders for sure, but even if you don’t lead worship - have you ever noticed whether your worship leader(s) more often close their eyes or keep them open? have you ever found one or the other distracting or more engaging?

i’ve decided to start a new blog category “worship ministry thoughts” that will be a place for me to collect ideas and tips about leading a church worship ministry. things i’m learning on the job. things i’ve collected from others along the way. (i’d love for anybody to add your own thoughts as well.)

i’ve been involved in full-time worship ministry for 8 years now, the first 3 as a arranger/M.D. and the last 5 as a worship pastor. like anyone, i’ve experienced both times of rapid growth and development and other times of plateau. currently, i feel as though God is really teaching me a lot as a worship leader. i’m gaining confidence like never before and i’m sensing His direction in “real time” as i’m leading.

i’m excited about what God’s doing at Crosspointe Church where i serve. i love the staff team he’s assembled. i love the musicians he’s brought together for our worship band. Most of all, i love being a part of a church community that’s committed to inviting people on the journey of following Jesus, and particularly those who have previously stopped listening.

in this category, i’ll share my observations and insights on what i’m learning while leading at crosspointe, and hopefully some of you fellow worship leaders will chime in with tips of your own.

rock on!

Series: Love Affair
Week 2: Expectations in Marriage

Opening Song - “With or Without You” U2

Worship Set:
“All Because of You” Steve Fee
“Beautiful News” Matt Redman
“Mighty To Save” Hillsong
“Everlasting God” Chris Tomlin

Happy Mother’s Day!

I went to an open mic tonight in support of my friend, Brian. He’s just finished his first year of college and is home for the summer as of this week. Brian led the high school worship band as a junior and senior in high school at the church where I serve as worship pastor. I’ve tried to be encouraging and supportive of him, although I always wished I had more time to spend with him and build into him when he was here.

Anyway, turns out there were a couple of other young guys on the bill tonight that are in some way connected with Crosspointe - they play in cover bands with some of the musicians in our junior high band. So I decided to stay awhile and catch some of their sets, too.

Here are some of my observations and thoughts from tonight.

1. I remembered what it was like to be that age and discovering the joy of music. These guys just love to play - discovering old songs, writing new songs, whatever. An open mic night with no one there except family and a few friends, but that’s cool. They just love to play! I want to have that kind of fun with music again….

2. 60’s and 70’s seems to be the musical era of choice for junior high students. Tonight I heard songs from The Beatles, George Harrison, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and more. Is this phenomenon common to the whole country? Not surprisingly, the original songs that the guys played tonight sounded as if they were definitely influenced by these artists as well. Very interesting.

3. I realized that I’m growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy listening to live music whenever, wherever. But at the end of the day, I was not there tonight for me, but instead I was there to support the younguns. At 32, I’m starting to recognize the need to build into the musicians of tomorrow. (Wow I sound old.) And I’m not just doing it out of obligation, but I actually enjoy it. I think of John Ferguson, my friend who was most responsible for putting me on the track to where I am today as a musician and worship leader. I see now that it was no accident that he built into me, but that he was intentional about it. And I’m very grateful. And I’m happy that it’s my turn to do the same.

I love God. I love music. I love musicians. I’m glad God created music.